What is Bed-Stuy Strong? 

At the start of the COVID-19 crisis in March 2020, Bed-Stuy neighbors came together and formed an online community and hyperlocal mutual aid network. We are not a non-profit or professionals; we are neighbors helping neighbors, a practice as old as humanity. Since then, we have built a series of working groups addressing food insecurity, PPE and vaccines access, political education and other resource distributions including cash and AC units. 

The future of Bed-Stuy Strong is open to possibility: we are creating new ways of relating to each other and are working to build the future we want. We believe that all people should have their basic needs met, and be treated with dignity, honor and respect. Read more about our guiding principles.

What is mutual aid? 

Many definitions exist, but a simple one is: voluntary, often reciprocal support between people of a community. We do our work in the legacy of powerful organizing from the Black Panthers’ free clinics to abolitionist networks, and Bed-Stuy’s deep-rooted history of community care. For many, mutual aid creates new bonds and relationships and the space to question systems that create scarcity around the things we all need to survive. Bed-Stuy Strong recognizes mutual aid as a deeply political act. 

From the beginning…

Grocery Delivery Program 

From March 2020 to June 2021, Bed-Stuy Strong built and maintained a grassroots COVID-19 food security operation. Our work supported 28,000 people in Central Brooklyn through redistributing roughly $1.2M in crowdsourced donations to the community. 

Brooklyn Packers Partnership: Grocery Distribution

Brooklyn Packers is a  Black-led and worker-owned cooperative. Our partnership with Brooklyn Packers made it possible to obtain bulk sourcing, purchasing and packing food and supplies to Bed-Stuy neighbors, while keeping more funds with local organizations.

We have continued to partner with  Brooklyn Packers for our recurring community events, such as BSS’s Annual Summer Block Party and Seasonal Free Markets. 

Vaccine Coordination and PPE Distribution 

BSS was formed from a COVID-19 reality and continues to exist conscious of the health impact that COVID-19 has on members of our community. Our mutual aid network redistributed countless PPE through neighbor requests in our Slack, at protests, sharing with other community groups, and home deliveries. By April 2020, our network provided 1000 surgical masks to Kings County Hospital! 

From February to June 2021, BSS partnered with local and state public health organizations to secure vaccine appointments for BedStuy residents 65+. BSS volunteers conducted outreach, were present at vaccination sites as an information resource, and coordinated transportation.

Additionally, in March 2022 and May 2022, we set up one-day mass PPE distribution stations in Herbert Von King Park and Saratoga Park. Of course, our Block Party and Clothing Shares also include PPE distribution stations. 

Oppressive systems engender scarcity and crisis…

In June 2021, BSS paused its grocery distributions. BSS determined we needed to take a step back, rest and begin considering how to build a more sustainable food operation. In the meanwhile we continue our regular community events for redistributing resources.